


The old man cried in the snow, drifting down from the sky, grim and deathlike in hue on the snowy clearing

by imbirb



Category: RWBY
Genre: A child gets punched, F/M, a child has cold comfort ripped away from his hands., a child has his friends all turn on him, a child loses his sense of self
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22730203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbirb/pseuds/imbirb
Summary: A dramatic reimagining of a certain scene from volume six.
Relationships: Oscar & Qrow, Oscar Pine/Ruby Rose, Yang & Oscar
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	The old man cried in the snow, drifting down from the sky, grim and deathlike in hue on the snowy clearing

**Author's Note:**

> Tom Milson-A little Irony  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7sU9uB8XtU

The old man cried in the snow, drifting down from the sky, grim and deathlike in hue upon the snowy clearing. Oscar cried with him. 

It was a strange, horrible sensation. Oscar knew that it wasn’t his, but he felt the full weight of it nonetheless. Ozpin’s regret, bitter and choking, vile to the taste. He reached out for the words to describe it, agonizing, near-frantic, more than anything wishing that he could move. He retched into the numb cold of the limbo he was trapped in, wishing that he could feel the snow on his hands in that sea of static. 

It was unnatural, like feeling themself slip out of reality and into a world of grey miasma as the world spun around like a kaleidoscope, spinning lights and patches of darkness on the walls around him.

But.

Worse than that was…

The way they looked at him. His friends... The way that Yang, yards away, towered over Oscar with the hard glare in their eyes that should be warm and purple. The way that Blake retreated into their dark winter clothing, the way that Weiss looked at Oscar, equal parts shocked and horrified by the truth. Worst of all was the way that she looked at him, afraid and uncertain. The way her eyes, so sure and happy, silver-filled with joy and hope were now filled with grey despair. 

Worst of all was knowing that he was the one responsible.

Had Oscar known it beforehand? Had he glimpsed it, felt it in the back of his head? Their head? Oscar didn’t know. Maybe he had, but he had forgotten. Maybe he had found out, but Ozpin had wiped it from the front of their mind. 

Oscar wept, black and broken into the snow of that clearing. He heard, vaguely, drifting.  
“Professor?...” 

He heard himself speak, with a voice that was his but not his own; “I… I don’t have one....”

He felt the full weight of Qrow’s fist.

It was hard, sharp, stinging pain spread out across his burning face. He went flying  
across the clearing, for a moment he could feel the world snap back into place around him. He only had a moment to feel thankful. Qrow was strong. 

Oscar felt the crack of wood against his back. His aura snapped into place, absorbing what it could from the shock. He laid there for a moment, coughing, before he felt Ozpin come back into his head.

Suddenly, it was as if he was underwater, his ears clogged by the static. Oscar felt cold, disoriented by the change. He heard Qrow halfway through the murky depths. “Qrow: No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you… a place in this world... I thought I was finally... good…” 

He choked on the words and the tears that didn’t belong to him, feeling bile in his throat, retching them out. “But…” he coughed. 

“You are…” he heard himself say. 

Qrow: Meeting you... was the worst luck of my life…

The impact of Qrow’s words hit him hard, through the numbness and the cold sea surface above his head.

I turned my head to look at the ground.

“Maybe you're right…”

And I felt myself snap back into reality, cold and clear. The world flashed bright for a second, dimming down as I came to. I felt something wrong. Something horrible. I floundered for a second, before grasping the truth. I was back in control of myself. Ozpin was nowhere to be found.

“What happened?” Oscar heard them, from the back of the mass of looming figures, small and anxious.

“He’s… gone.”

Yang moved towards him. “That bastard!” she yelled, pointing. “Tell him we’re not done yet!” They said, accusingly. 

“He just left us?”

“What are we going to do now?” 

As Oscar listened to the panic and anger of his friends, he felt sadness and despair well up inside him, real and terrifying. In sharp contrast to the humming sea in his head, this was clear and real, feeling like it would overwhelm him, the cold black ocean rushing inside of him and threatening to drown him in his own soul.

Yang growled in anger.

“We need to get a move on.” Maria spoke. Angry, or maybe just annoyed. They seemed shaken, but they were old, wise, the type to take control in a crisis rather than panic.

Yang growled, menacingly; “Lady, I don’t know who you think you are, but-”

“No buts! I understand that you’re upset, honestly I’m…” Oscar felt himself drifting again, the cold beginning to comfortably numb the surging blood in his veins and his skin. His cheek still throbbed with lancing, burning, icy pain, but that too was beginning to feel fuzzy and numb. “...But if we don’t move, we’ll die. And I’ll be damned if I’ve lived this long just to die out here in the cold.” 

He heard Ruby speak. He felt another wave of despair surge over him. “She’s right. Come on.”  
Grateful at last for the end, Oscar began to doze off against the smooth surface of the tree bark.

He felt Ruby grasp his hand. A jolt ran through his veins, pulse quickening as his face began to warm through the icy cold frosting over it. He felt her press his cane- Ozpin’s cane into his hand. She pulled Oscar to his feet, him stumbling over his dead extremities as their blood began to buzz, flowing once more. 

I heard myself mumble out the words, uncertain and disoriented. “I’m just going to be another one his lives, aren’t I…” 

She grasped my hand tighter, warm skin against my pallid, freezing hands. “Of course not. You’re your own person.” They smiled at me, and the world began to warm around them.

“Don’t lie to him, Ruby.” Qrow took a long, hard swig from his flask. “We’re better than that…” they looked down and walked off along the blurry path. Ruby looked away from me, silver eyes unable to meet mine. And the moment was gone, cold and clear.

She let go of my hand, and followed along the trail half-hidden in the snow. I watched them go, until I couldn’t see them any longer through the snowy brush. I limped after them, hand growing cold as their body heat dissipated into the icy air around me.

**Author's Note:**

> Oscar: (grabbing the cane) I'm just going to be another one of his lives, aren't I?  
> Ruby: (puts her hand on his) Of course not. You're your own person.  
> Qrow: Don't lie to him, Ruby. (drinks from his flask) We're better than that...
> 
> oof.


End file.
